A well organised Queensland Roar team opened the new National Youth League with 2-0 win against Melbourne Victory on Friday afternoon at Green Gully Reserve.

Joshua McVey scored the first goal in the competition after the minutes into the second half to give the Roar youth a 1-0 lead.

This was quickly followed by a second goal to the Roar when a passback to the Victory keeper wasn’t dealt with, Mitch Nichols was then able to get a foot in and dribble the ball across the goal line.

The first half was a tight tussle between two teams who had limited experience playing together but the spectacle was further diminished by the conditions at Green Gully Reserve, strong winds and a bumpy pitch made it difficult for the young players to play an open and attacking game.

Both teams had a chance to gain the lead with a shot from Adam Sarota on the 15 minute mark, only for it to be blocked by a lunging Melbourne player. At the other end Nathan Elasi was unlucky not to score when his volley from the top of the box rebounded off the upright. Steven Pace should’ve slotted home a close shot from the spoils but was unable to hit the target.

Queensland Roar started out the livelier in the second half and their enthusiasm paid off within minutes of the restart after a superb cross from Thomas Oar found McVey at the back post, who had time to bring the ball down and thrash a volley into the left hand side of goal.

Melbourne Victory were lucky not to go a further goal down minutes later when their defence fell asleep at a corner, allowing Roar to take it quickly. This opened up another shooting opportunity to McVey only for him to miss the target.

Sarota and continued to harass Melbourne Victory through the middle of the park and left wing with some good link up play.

It was a Melbourne Victory mistake that gifted Queensland Roar their second goal. After some tight pressure that forced Victory to pass back to their keeper, Mijo Marinovic who was unable to deal with the bobbling pass and Mitch Nichols stole the ball from between his legs to score an easy tap in.

Substitute Isaka Cernak showed a turn of speed and great technique to create a chance for a third goal for the visitors when he weaved his way through the Victory midfield only to shoot wide of the mark.

It looked possible that Queensland Roar could have run over their opponents after the second goal but to their credit Melbourne Victory held out and pushed for a consolation goal.

Matthew Theodore was instrumental in the midfield for Victory and helped steady the ship alongside Steve Pantelidis .

Elasi had the best chance to score a goal in the second half for Victory when he found himself in space at the back post from corner, his resulting shot sailed harmlessly over the bar.

Queensland Roar were reduced to 10 men deep into the second half after Griffin was involved in an altercation with Lujic. Griffin appeared to push Lujic in the face, the referee Alex Azcurra showed no hesitation in pulling his red card out of his pocket.

Standouts

Melbourne Victory
Matthew Theodore
Aziz Behich

Queensland Roar
Adam Sarota
Tommy Oar

Some sections of the supporter groups that make up the North Terrace, including the BWB, have decided to return to the North End for the match against Queensland Roar at the Telstra Dome on Sunday after lengthy negotiations with the club.

All MVFC supporter groups have been opposed to the introduction of the new Home End Membership (HEM) scheme that has been forced upon the clubs by the FFA for the 2008/09 A-League season.

Up until now the only organised supporter groups that had taken up the HE, albiet under certain conditions, were the South End groups.

In a statement released Tuesday, the BWB commented that they felt that the only option was to take up the HEM in a modified form that had been devised in consultation with the club.

” The decision was one that was not taken lightly. While we are not happy with arrangements made this season by FFA to introduce what can only be described as a draconian system, we have come to a point where we’ve realised that at this stage, there just isn’t any other method. Ideally, we hoped for a model similar to what we had in place for the Asian Champions League but that has failed to come to fruition. Once again, FFA ruining something that was working fine.” said a BWB statement.

With the new purpose built football stadium being built at the Olympic Park site it seems prudent to make the nest of what they have while at Telstra Dome, hoping that the new stadium caters better for the active supporter.

For details on how to gain access to the North Terrace and join the active supporter scene at Melbourne Victory follow this link.

Following is a letter that was sent to the FFA just under 2 months ago. It was co-signed by representatives from the North End, the South End, OSS, SDC, Gold Member section, representatives of this forum, as well as two MP’s that are sympathetic to our cause.

As yet, we have not received any reply from the FFA, who clearly have not deemed responding to the game’s stakeholders as an immediate priority. Massive kudos to CLM who got this process rolling and had a huge role in constructing this. Despite not receiving any sort of feedback yet, it was still a worthwhile process.

Dear FFA

We write on behalf of, and in support of, the active supporters of the terraces of Melbourne. As passionate supporters, we share with the FFA a commitment to growing the game of football in this country.

We wish to object to the imposition of allocated seating Home End Membership on all A-League clubs.

We believe it is unnecessary. We believe the process by which it was imposed was flawed. We suspect the analysis that underpins it is incorrect. We believe the system will stifle home end support for MVFC, and will dampen the atmosphere at Melbourne games.

Melbourne is clearly doing something right. Attendance at MVFC games is by far the highest in the League.

We are proud of the massive growth of support in Melbourne. We are proud of the growth of active support. We are proud of our rapid creation of distinctive support styles. We are proud of the creativity, passion and community we have built.

We believe active supporters bring something of great value to the game. Our contribution is atmosphere. It is our voices that raise the chants that fill the stadium. It is our flags that wave over the home end. We are more than customers.

If the FFA fails to foster the passion and creativity active support can generate, you do the game a great disservice.

It was a mistake to base the decision over Home End Memberships on the advice of consultants who did not consult us. Supporters and MVFC had only recently arrived at an agreement about how to manage access to the home end. This agreement had been negotiated between the stakeholders – supporters, the club, the stadium. Your decision over-rode that agreement before it even had a chance to operate in season.

One-size-fits-all solutions are not always the best, and top-down decision-making is not a good way to win co-operation. A negotiated solution that has local support will be far more effective in the long run than a centrally imposed rule. Melbourne fans are angry that our local solutions have been discarded, and frustrated by the way that something that could be simple is made difficult.

However, if it is really essential to have only one rule for the whole league, clearly the reasons for the huge success of Melbourne should be taken into account in designing it.

In a practical sense, our chief objection to the system that has been imposed is the restrictions it places on access to the home end.

Prior to this, the home ends were both general admission. At the South End, where there has been no history of over-crowding, it was operating as straight general admission. At the North End, where there had been some over-crowding at times, a system had been devised to control access to the central bays, with special tickets distributed via the supporter groups.

As general admission areas, people were free to come and go from the active areas.

Our issues with restricted access are:
• people do not want to be tied down to a particular seat – they wish to move around within the bay, the home end and the stadium
• active support is in an establishment phase, with many people still trying it out, or deciding which end they prefer – it is too early in the life of our terraces to ask people to make a definitive decision about where they belong
• general admission allows the size, density and character of the end to evolve
• there is a possibility of tension between supporters over ownership of seats and whether people sit down – allocated seating means it cannot be dealt with by just moving apart
• as a new club, we have had several stages of evolution where groups of supporters have split, and there has been a need to move away from each other to pursue different aims

We also want you to try to understand the importance to us of freedom and independence.
The kind of passion we can bring is born out of creativity and spontaneity. Bureaucratic hurdles, illogical rules, disrespect - these things stifle our creativity and our enthusiasm.

When we create our own symbols of support – songs we have written, flags we have made, imagery we have devised – they carry with them a commitment and a passion that can never be replicated through a Samsung placard handed out at the turnstile. The relationships we build transform us from a crowd into a community, and deepen our commitment to the game.

We urge you to reconsider the home end membership system. We request an explanation of the reasons why this system was deemed necessary. We would like to know what the risks are that you believe need to be controlled.

Well our 23 man squad has been finalised for the season, although there are some rumours floating around that Archie or Hernandez might be heading off before the season starts.

In
Ney Fabiano (Chonburi, Thailand)
Tom Pondeljak (Central Coast)
Pupy Lopez (Saprissa, Costa Rica)
Michael Thwaite (SK Brann, Norway)

Out
Adrian Caceres (Central Coast)
Jo Keenan (Hibs, Scotland)
Kaz Patafta (Newcastle)

Full Squad

Goalkeepers
Langerak
Theoklitos

Defenders
Muscat
Vargas
Thwaite
Pace
Pantelidis
Ryall
Kemp
Vasilevski

Midfielders
Brebner
Broxham
Nick Ward
Evan Berger
Carlos Hernandez
Pupy Lopez
Tommy Pondeljak
Billy Celeski

Strikers
Archie Thompson
Danny Allsop
Ney Fabiano
Nathan Elasi

Overall I think the squad on paper is stronger and more experienced than last season, especially the addition of Michael Thwaite as we have lacked a tall defender since Leijer left.  Just looking back at the goals we conceded from set pieces during our ACL campaign shows how much we have need a tall centre half.

First 11 (assuming ful fitness), playing Merricks favored 3-4-3 formation

——————-Theo——————–
——–Muscat—-Thwaite—–Vargas——
Vasilevski——-Pupy—-Ward——-Kemp—–
——————–Carlos——————-
—–Archie——————Allsop————

Subs
Langerak
Fabiano
Tommy P
Ryall

My only concern is the right side of midfield, Vasilevski has looked ok in patches but is average going forward and back. But overall the spine looks to be strong.

Another worry is Nick Wards fitness and form.  If Brebner gets back to full fitness you’d have to think that Ward may struggle to hold his first team place if he keeps putting in performances like he did in the ACL.  I know he was carrying an injury, but lets hope he gets back to full fitness.

Prediction: If we don’t make the finals with this squad, goodbye Merrick.  Assuming we don’t have a horror run with injuries like last season I think we’ll make the finals and have a tilt at the dunny seat, but I said the same thing last year and look what happened. Fucking Ljubo.  He makes Kyle Sandilands look like a top bloke.

Ok, its off season.  And besides the obvious talking point, the Home End memberships, not a lot is going on.  So here’s a list of my most hated ex Sydney FC players and why.

1. Mark Rudan - Kevin Muscat cops a lot of criticism for being a dirty player, but in my books this bloke was the OJ Simpson of the A-League for what he got away with.  Long sliding tackles with clear intention to injure and mame other players.  His sliding tackle on Alessandro was one of the worst I have ever seen and if it was any other referee besides Mark “Ray Charles” Shield he would have got a straight red and 6 months jail time for being a cunt.

And then his reaction to complain that Alessandro had dived….bitch, please!  If he had of actually connected Alessandro would now be hopping around like Skippy on PCP.  Although most of us didn’t take into account that maybe smashing Alessandro’s legs might have improved his passing technique and maybe, just maybe he might be able to complete 1 pass during his entire stint with us.

Summary - Rudan is a cunt and I hope someone laces his Sake with rat poison.

2. Ruben Badcockitch - As with all Sydney FC players, I hate them and hope they contract cancer or the gonads and die a slow painful death.  But Badcockitch has taken my hatred to a new level, particularly with his performance for the Socceroos against China the other night.  He must have worn a bigger pearl necklace than Di out on a date with Dodi in order to be picked for this squad, even if it was our 3rd string team.

I don’t hate him for being picked in the squad, there have been many other players who have tarnished the gold shirt by being picked when they didn’t deserve it.  Like Kristian Sarkies, who until Badcockitch walked out onto the pitch, was officially the worst player to ever play for the Socceroos.

But Badcockitch played a shocker, gave away a stupid, stupid penalty, and then had the gall to make the following statements after the game.

“It never was a penalty,” Zadkovich told the Illawarra Mercury. “I didn’t touch him, he milked the foul.

“I only had one thought in my head: ‘justice prevails’. When he scored the first one and the referee ruled a retake I could see a miss happening in my head.”

“I thought I did all right, the game didn’t really lend itself to me taking over.

Ruben, you do realise of course that there is a thing called the “Internet”, and many small town newspapers get syndicated nationwide?  You do realise this don’t you?  But I suppose now that you are a superstar playing for Derby, who have had such famous players as Tonton Zola Mokouko (he was a gun for my Newcastle CM team in 2001, 23 goals and 17 assists playing in behind Shearer) and Mile Sterjovski, that people from a country town would believe that you had ever taken over a game.

“It really was a special feeling, a priceless experience.”

You better savor it, because its the last time you’ll experience it unless our top 200 players all contract Aids and die.  And then the next 10,000 players are all unavailable due episode 3 of the Schapelle Corby documentary is airing on TV.  And then the next 100,000 kids have school the next day and can’t play too late.

“Pim Verbeek didn’t play us for charity; we’re the next generation of Australian players and he wanted to have a look at us,” Badcockitch said.

He didn’t play you for charity.   He played you so it would take the attention of Pim’s lovechild Brett Lolman.  And thus it has.  You are now officially the worst player ever to play for the Green and Gold.  Even Sarkies 8 minutes of doing nothing was better than watching you charge up the pitch and cross balls into crowd.

“Hopefully I can stay in the team for the next stage of qualifiers - I can only train my hardest and show I can do the job.

Not only are you a shit footballer, you’re more deluded than Branko Culina thinking he could get Sydney FC to play attractive football.

Summary - Sitting on the bench for Derby is what you deserve.

Unfortunately, there will be no match report as I attended the game and was slightly under the weather by kickoff. However I got the impression we looked a rabble until Carlos came onto the pitch. Judging by the yelling emanating from the change rooms after the game, it seemed Ernie was particularly unhappy with performance against Chunnam.

10 Victory supporters made the trip to Gwangyang on Korea’s South West coast. It was no mean feat getting there, a 5 hour train from Suwon to Suncheon, followed by a 30 minute taxi to the ground. In usual fashion much drinking took place in the train, in the taxi and in the ground.

As we arrived at the ground on a balmy evening, we were approached by a club official who walked us into the ground. I mean literally, we walked onto the pitch (which was the finest turf I have ever seen). Sitting on the substitutes bench was none other than Kevin Muscat and we had a chat to him and took a few photos. We assumed our positions behind the goals and Ernie came over for a chat. I won’t mention a lot of what he said on here, but it was good that he came over and gave us some insight into the injury problems and fitness issues the players have had over the ACL. He also confirmed that they are definitely trying to sign a defensive midfielder and striker.

Onto the game, and truthfully it was a bit of a blur. We didn’t look like doing much until Carlos came on. Even at 70% fitness he is truly a joy to watch and a class above any other player in our squad or in fact the entire A-League. If he stays fit this year we will have a good chance of making the finals and going further.

After the game (thanks to there being virtually no security) we snuck a peak into the players change rooms and heard a bit of Ernie’s spray, and also saw parts of the post match press conference. We had another chat to Ernie, posed with some photos with the players who thanked us for coming down and went on our merry way with some new Korean friends who came out to the post game pub with us.

In the first of a series of interviews with prominent supporters of Melbourne Victory, today we talk to “Cala”, the (lesser known, and he likes it like that) co-founder of the Blue and White Brigade.

Hi Cala, thanks for taking the time to be interviewed.

1. Firstly, How did the BWB start and who started it?

BWB began way back in the pre season cup prior to season one. I was with a group of friends at the Melbourne Vs Perth pre-season game and we were sitting in the stands. We noticed the Union behind the goals and after the game were at a pub and got talking about starting a second group to work along side the Union.

During that week myself and Tunna (Cala’s good mate and other co-founder of the BWB) continued to discuss the possibility of creating a new group. We contacted some mates and recieved a lot of interest.

The rest is history. We created the group and it continued to grow from there.

2. What’s your role in the BWB?

To be quite honest, my role in the BWB has taken a backward step over the past year or so due to personal reasons. I am a member of the ‘core’ group and very much involved in decision making, however I am the first to admit that certain other members of the core and BWB Youth have continued to put in a hell of a lot of work over the past year and continue to keep it strong.

3. How has it evolved from the start to the present day?

In the Blue & White Brigade opinion, there are 4 elements that need to be individually measured as to whether BWB (the community) has evolved or not.
They are:
1) BWB’s physical numbers
2) BWB’s mentality
3) BWB’s active contribution to the football scene &
4) BWB Youth

In terms of numbers BWB’s membership and core membership has in 3 seasons gone from something quite small and innocent to excessively quite large and un-manageable to present day, compact & committed.

Call it evolution or self-preservation the consolidation of numbers, has allowed for a solid likeminded foundation to be forged, something unachievable when the core group numbered 30 odd.

In terms of mentality, the members of BWB and indeed the whole home-end community are more wary of the media and the football decisions made in this country and how they impact on ‘active support’. The battles that have been fought has made everyone realize that supporting football is no easy feat and the line between supporting the club and supporting the players is constantly (almost weekly) being reviewed and defined.

While organised tifos were not a feature of season 3 (due in part to the 3 month supporter’s rights campaign), in terms of active contribution, BWB or the terrace has never been more organised or active. BWB has participated & stood by loyally to every agreed ’supporter’s rights’ campaign initiative.

It has never shyed away from putting the BWB name behind every decision/discussion raised formally with the club, TD management and VICPOL. As a result BWB is a key player in contributing to the ‘direction of active support’ and remains as a established representative link between supporters and the club.

The establishment of the BWB Youth has clearly added to the BWB brand and due in part to its Capo is one of the positives of BWB’s short history. Again, compact & committed, the BWB Youth are highly organized and have demonstrated on numerous occasions that its core base is clearly prepared to take the BWB brand to the next level.

4. Why did you change the original name from “Blue and White Fighters” to the “Blue and White Brigade”?

Oh the memories. We were throwing around some names for our new group and narrowed it down to two. ‘Blue and White Brigade ‘ and ‘Blue and White Fighters’.

We actually chose ‘Blue and White Fighters’ initially, and released it on the Melbourne Victory.net forum and to some respected mates in other crews on the terrace.

We got a fair amount of negative responses , as many people felt the word ‘Fighters’ had a stigma of hooliganism, which wouldn’t go down well with the new league and what it was trying to achieve. We thought about it and agreed, but were not too fussed to run with ‘Brigade’ as it was a very close decision in the first place.

5. How many members do the BWB have?

Depend what you class as members. If you mean core and BWB Youth then 40 or so.

6. What are the main members roles?

1. Match-day capo
2. Contributing/Publishing/Printing/Distributing match-day fanzine
3. Club/Stadium liaison
4. Inter-crew liaison
5. Funding/merchandise
6. Content management of website
7. Tifo committee
8. Away game bus (new)

7. What would you say the core ideals of the BWB are?

1) Mateship
2) Enjoyment
3) Creating a style of support that lifts the players out on the park
4) Supporting Rights
5) To be the most pro-active supporter group in the country

8. Personally, what’s been your favorite moment as a core member of the BWB?

For me personally, it would be the protest at Olympic Park against the Herald Sun, 3aw and Channel 9. For one day I felt that the whole stadium and football supporters in general had bound together to take a stand at the bullshit we have to read and hear from various sources of media. There was a sense of accomplishment and unity, and I wish we would experience this a lot more in the future.

9. What are your thoughts about the way the club is run and how the BWB interacts with the club?

BWB does not agree with the way certain parts of the club are run, especially its Football department who I personally think should be dispensed with completely and some new figures employed.

To an extent, BWB thinks the club has lost touch with its fan base, which is not helped by the chairman continually using business jargon in his addresses to the press.

BWB’s relationship with the club, is ok but still has some way to go. The Blue & White Brigade have always had some form of relationship since the day it came to being. There has always been open dialogue which has at times been of mutual benefit. There have also been times when the Blue & White Brigade have locked horns but the results at the end of the day have assisted in meeting our progressive needs and allowing us the autonomy to do what we do.

There still are some underlying issues which need to be ironed out but the Blue & White Brigade is confident that it will reach this point with time and persistence.

BWB are the leaders in breaking down the barriers. While this process can be highly frustrating at times, it is for the greater good of all Football supporters.

10. If people are interested in joining the BWB, how would they go about it?

The only way you can join the BWB at the moment is if you are recommended by another BWB Core or Youth member. The group will then decide on a yes or no. It is invite only.

11. Where does the BWB take its supporting culture from? Is it based purely on the Italian ultras or is it more diverse than that?

I would say a mix. We are definitely influenced in some way by the Italian Ultra scene, but that is more to do with choreography and chants and supporter rights, rather than the violent side we are witnessing these days. I would say we are trying to mix the traditional European style support into the new Australian football scene. It takes time and is a learning process, however I think we are on the right track.

12. Where do you see the future for the BWB?

For the Blue & White Brigade to continue to be an integral part of the active scene here in Melbourne.

Personal Profile:

Name: Cala

Nickname and why? Cala. It’s an abbreviation of my surname.

Age: 28

Favourite club outside Australia? AC Milan

Favourite Supporters group outside of Australia and why?

Was Fossa Dei Leoni (AC Milan) however they have disbanded a few years ago. Their tifo and coreogoraphy was second to none in my opinion, and having seen Milan live a fair few times at the San Siro, it has always remained in my memory.

Favourite player of all time and why?

Franco Baresi. He was my idol as a child and the reason I play as a defender. A class player and a true gentleman. If you get a chance , read his life story and the heartache he went through as a child losing both his parents at a young age.

Favourite Victory player of all time and why?

It would have to be Geoffrey Claeys. For some reason I am attached to the team from season 1, and Sir Geoff was always a gentleman and would remember our names and stop to have a chat whenever he came across us.

Most hated A-League team and why?

Sydney and Adelaide for obvious reasons.

Merrick. Love him or hate him?

As a person, no issue. However I would say I ‘dislike’ his tactics, recruitment and decision making.

Where will Victory finish in V4 of the A-League?

Based on our current squad, I would say 4th or 5th. I think we need to recruit some quality players.

Thanks for the great interview Cala.

For more information about the BWB please visit their website www.bluewhitebrigade.com

Gutted, disappointed, but not surprised. I think thats how you can describe the feeling after a Masato Yamazaki brace buried the Victory in Osaka, ending our (albeit, very slim) hopes of going through to the second round knockout stage.

On the forum the usual suspects are calling for Merrick’s head, and seems that a few more of the moderates are starting to join with them. After last season’s disappointment you can hardly blame them.

The “Sack Merrick” campaign is gathering steam, but we all know he will be there for another season at the very least, so we might as well live with it and get behind the boys for V4.

So what can we take away from our failed ACL campaign?

Firstly, we were drastically under prepared, from a physical fitness point of view and a match fitness point of view. Our capitulation in Bangkok was perfect example of this. Didn’t we learn anything from Sydney FC’s loss to Persik Kediri in last years ACL? Or didn’t we learn anything from the Socceroos dismal performance in the Asian Cup?

We heard a lot in the leadup to the ACL that the squad was training in heat tents at the VIS in preperation, as we didn’t want to make the same mistakes as Sydney FC and the Socceroos.

But watching the players hunched over and running out of puff in Bangkok, after slogging their guts out for 90 minutes showed that they were drastically unfit and not prepared for the rigors of Asia.

Secondly, we need a new tall, central defender. Muscat, Vargas and Ryall (bless their hearts, they give it their all week in, week out) are just not equipped physically to deal with high balls from corners, set pieces and crosses. Especially considering we play with wing-backs who get forward and leave us exposed out wide. We got murdered from set pieces against Gamba and A-League teams who often play with big strikers must be licking their lips at the prospect of playing a long ball game against Victory.

Thirdly, we really miss Carlos, more so than Archie. We lacked someone in midfield pulling the strings and controlling the tempo of the game. Someone with a cool head, who could split open a defence with a diagonal through ball, and someone who could lead from the front playing a short passing game bringing our other midfielders into play.

He’s a class above anything else we have in our squad and his loss, moreso than Archie’s injury probably ruled out any chance we had of qualifying before the ACL even started.

And lastly, what most critics of Ernie bang on about week in and week out. Our inflexible tactics, which often see players reverting to the “hoof and hope” when it’s not working and we are being dominated in the midfield.

So looking forward to the Chunnam away match and the Chonburi home game, what can we expect?

We’d hope that some of the young players like Elasi, Berger, Patafta and Langerak would get a run, and that we would start nursing Carlos back to fitness. We’d hope to see the Leigh Broxham from V2, the one who would make great space, demand the ball and play short simple passes forward, instead of the barrel chested, slide tackling maniac who couldn’t complete a pass to save himself that we have now.

And above all, we’d just like to see some football played with the ball on the deck, rather than the long ball rubbish that we’ve predominantly seen throughout the ACL. I know Ernie does not preach this style of play, but if the players are consistently doing it then something is either wrong with the manager or the players, or worse still, both.

Registrations are now back open. An invite only system has been enacted and the usual method of registration is still closed.

Earlier in the week MVFC in conjunction with Telstra Dome announced that starting from the Round 9 match levels 2 and 3 will become no standing areas.

While to the ordinary supporter this would hardly seem newsworthy, Victory supporters are hardly normal.

And this announcement has whipped up a storm of discontent among the supporters who have been fighting for more rights since the inception of the club.

After the initial move from Olympic Park to Telstra Dome in Season 2 of the A-League the Northern Terrace (BWB, Youth and other active) supporters situated themselves on Level 1 at the Coventry End.

This seemed to be an ideal fit for the NT supporters but within weeks limitations came to the fore.

Members of the Northern Terrace were forced to turn up two hours before kick off just to get a seat behind the goals and the many people who were rushing to get into the area ended up adding nothing to the atmosphere and standing araound like statues. By the time the finals series came around wristbands were needed to get into the NT which further dented the moral of the NT.

In the last year many attempts to obtain permission to use a drum and Megaphone have been flatly refused by TD officials with numerous excuses dished out from the absurd of people complaining about the noise (at the library of Football??) or the wacky excuse doing the rounds that drums will lead to tribal behaviour.

Suddenly both TD have forgotten about the excuses that were made to the supporters and have allowed both a drum and megaphone as sweeteners in the removal of Level 3 (Level 2 as well but we all know this isn’t directed at them) as standing areas. Why have they suddenly changed their policies now?

Is it because they need something from the supporters when before the supporters had no bargaining power.

Another question that needs answering is if the aforementioned groups had not moved to Level 3 in the first place would they have been offered the drum and megaphone? I doubt it, it encourages tribalism remember.

That is not to say that the club doesn’t stand up and fight for supporters rights at all because I have heard the contrary along the grapevine but no one has seen any evidence of this.

Particularly since the last link between the fans collectively and the club was broken a few months ago when the Communications and Marketing Manager of MVFC was barred from posting on the supporters forum the communication has all but dried up.

Now to communicate to the fans the club is forced to issue a public statement, not once but twice. This reminds me a lot like a school principle herding a whole school into the gymnasium for an assembly to just tell off a few kids for fighting.

The supporters deserve more then that.

The reason that has been given to the supporters for the crackdown on standing on Level 3 is that of health and safety. When it comes to peoples safety no shortcut or oversight should be welcomed.

Why is it then that for the previous 3 matches and the first match against Sydney in Season 2 were supporters allowed to stand?

It is most probably a case of the dangers just being pointed out to officials since the last home match but to a supporter of Football in this country who has every right to be suspicious of media and big business this smacks of a smokescreen.

Soon enough (if not already) the active support is going to outgrow Level 1 so then supporters will be knocked back from participating and be forced to sit up in level 3 and watch from a distance.

By treating the supporters of MVFC, particularly the NT like children an us vs them culture has developed accompanying this is the suspicion that not only is the FFA and TD against the active support that the NT provide but the club itself is as well.

The only way I see this culture being changed and more pressingly the situation that could unfold on Sunday at TD of supporters ignoring the the new policy is for direct two way communication between the club and supporters.Discuss here.